We often debate about how women should be labeled–just the other day ASOS took a major hit when they called a model ‘plus size’ instead of just stating the obvious fact that she’s a model and leave it at that. But in my recent time looking for cute summer clothes to wear, I’ve realized that it’s not just the brands, but often times it’s also the media that seemingly tries to be inclusive but ends up putting curvy women in a separate category altogether which I believe is counterintuitive.
To name just a few I came across today there was “Swimsuit trends made for plus-size women” that went on to list styles that basically are supposed to cinch in at the waist and sexy options to show off your body, the next was “how the wrap dress is the best thing that curvy women can wear,” which went on to make pointless statements about how it’s slimming, and the last icing on the cake was “skirts to make your curves seem hourglass.” Really encouraging right?!
There’s a difference between suggesting brands to buy for swimwear or summer dresses, and explicitly saying that these trends are just for curvy women. And though it feels like an innocent enough attempt to be inclusive, inclusive to me means that curvy women should be able to shop in the same section, get the same trends from the runway, and find cool pieces just like everyone else in their size. It shouldn’t be a separate destination or strategy just because you have more curves than a woman fitting into sample sizes. And I can only hope that people start to realize being inclusive doesn’t mean one opinion of a curvy woman, or promoting only a certain curvy body type–it means embracing women of all sizes in ever single conversation.